Tech Tools That Help eLearning Designers Collaborate

The beauty—and sometimes the bane—of remote work is that you have the ability to create on your own. Most of the time, it’s great to have the space you need to think and get creative. But when you’ve reached the point when you need feedback or some suggestions to spur more creativity, you can’t just ask a colleague to check out the design on your screen.

Thankfully, with today’s technology, there are many ways you can collaborate with clients and colleagues, regardless of your location or theirs. Here are some solutions that I recommend you check out:

Where is the current version of that document? Has everyone reviewed it? Didn’t we do something to this project similar three years ago? Google Drive may not have the bells and whistles of newer apps, but when it comes to providing feedback, avoiding issues with version control, and storing files, it’s an easy-to-use solution that’s available for free.

For a virtual team to collaborate, everyone needs to have real-time access to current documents and also understand any progress that’s made against deliverables. One software solution, Teamwork, allows users to create task lists and assign individual tasks to team members. This helps with visibility for the project—including posting current files for review—and ensures team members are aligned and moving in the same direction.

If you’re looking for a free tool to enable quick conversations that can be organized by discussion topic, Slack does just that. It also allows you to share documents. The mobile version is equally easy to use and enables team communication even if you step away from your office. Thanks to the search feature, it’s easy to locate files or conversations that you may need to reference later.

For help with collaboration on visuals, Red Pen offers an interface that allows anyone with access to point, click and provide feedback. Another bonus: comments are immediately visible, so it can feel like you’re having a discussion about a design, even though you’re not standing next to each other. If someone already made a comment you’re able to agree or disagree, without waiting for all the feedback to be compiled and uploaded.

Continue making the most of your alone time to create amazing eLearning content. But when you need collaboration—and we all do—try using one of these tools to make your design even better. If you’re already using collaboration tools as part of your design practice, leave a comment and let me know what you’re using and why you like it!

Liz Sheffield is a freelance writer with a background in training and development. She specializes in writing about everything related to the human side of business. You can contact her via LinkedIn or Twitter.

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3 Comments

Nikos Andriotis @ Talent LMS
on September 16, 2016 at 5:26 am

I’d definitely throw in Trello – a team-work-organizing-complex-process-breakdown-web-based application. Allows bascially to write down what needs to be done and monitor the advances, report challenges.

AND – can be integrated with Slack!

Kevin @ Assignment Mentors
on September 16, 2016 at 8:49 am

Worth Reading! This free tool enables quick conversations that can be organized by discussion topic.